Friday, March 6, 2015

Vikings 3.3: We'll Always Have Paris

My favorite scene in Vikings 3.3 was the one in which Ecbert tells Ragnar about Paris. It typifies what I most like about this series, the profound world-changing collision and mix of cultures in this age and place. England still has a toe in its Roman past, and a local king - Ecbert - visited a Roman city that still stands, Paris, with Charlemagne enthroned. Ragnar cannot help but be tempted by this true tale, and we therefore see in this scene the beginning of the Viking presence in a world far beyond England. The story of the Vikings is really an early chapter in the epic of our planet becoming a global village, which continues today.

The Romans figure in my next favorite scene, Ecbert and Lagertha in a still operational Roman bath. It's cozy, comfy, and conducive to making love. How far will their relationship go? In a much less comfortable scene - in fact, it was a bit revolting - Ecbert watches Lagertha bathe herself in the blood of a slaughtered cow and fertilize the field with the blood in a Viking ritual designed to bring forth a good harvest. Ecbert has now been immersed, almost literally, in Lagertha's culture, just as she has with his. But is this, viscerally, what he wants? Some of his advisors have already complained about the lack of Christian faith in the Vikings - which Ecbert doesn't seem to mind - but what about the blood on Lagertha's face?

Althestan and Judith are also in that warm Roman bath, and close together, but Judith demurs. She later tells Althestan that she wanted him, typifying Althestan's position in this entire story and series so far: he is wanted by many (usually his intellect, but sometimes more) but rarely gets to be fully immersed in any of it, being so powerfully pulled in different directions. In that sense, he is much more truly the wanderer than that weirdo back in Scandinavia, who appears after the three lead women dream about him.

Speaking of which, Scandinavia continues to be the lesser theater of action in this third season of Vikings. But that's just as it should be, as the Vikings move out to the greater world beyond in the West.

About Me

Paul Levinson, PhD, is Professor of Communication &
Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City.His 8 nonfiction books, including The Soft Edge (1997),
Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003), Cellphone (2004), and New New Media (2009, 2nd edition 2012), have been the
subject of major articles in the New York Times, Wired, the Christian Science
Monitor, and have been translated into 12 languages. His science fiction novels include The Silk Code (1999, ebook 2012), Borrowed Tides (2001), TheConsciousness Plague (2002, 2013), The Pixel Eye (2003), The Plot To SaveSocrates (2006, ebook 2012), and Unburning Alexandria (2013).His short stories
have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards.Paul Levinson appears on "The
O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News,"“NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” (PBS),“Nightline” (ABC), NPR, and numerous
national and international TV and radio programs. His 1972 album, Twice Upon a Rhyme, was re-issued in 2009 (CD) and 2010 (remastered vinyl). He reviews the best of
television in his InfiniteRegress.tv blog, and was listed in The Chronicle of
Higher Education’s “Top 10 Academic Twitterers” in 2009.

e-mail received from a reader:Dear Paul, I just dreamed of airships flying between raindrops. I just returned from 2042 CE, where I sold my hardcover copy of The Plot to Save Socrates for seventy million Neo-Euros, because it had your response to this e-mail from way back in 2007 scotch-taped onto the inside of the cover. A Paul Levinson collector paid top Neo-Euro, because of the authentic archaic e-mail printout from you. It turns out that not many of your e-mails from before your tenure as CEO of HBO/Cinemax and terms as United Nations Secretary General will survive that far into the future. So, please respond to this e-mail, to help found my great-grandchildren's fortune. My Will will stipulate that they must share with your great grandchidren. Thanks! Tom